Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party, addressing a public gathering of the Party in Gujrat expressed his gratitude to the Jiyalas for showing up in such large numbers and expressing their love for the PPP despite the harsh weather.
Chairman Bilawal said that those who used to say that the PPP is not present in Punjab and are not contesting, have nothing to talk about but the Party these days. If there is any party that is serious about the elections, then it is the party of Quaid-e-Awam Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Only the PPP’s Jiyalas are running the election campaign. The PPP has held conventions and gatherings all over KP, Punjab, Balochistan and Sindh. As opposed to this, the PPP’s rivals do not even leave their houses. There is a reason behind the lion not going out to hunt, but demanding someone else to hunt on its behalf. They do not even have a manifesto to show, as it is still being prepared. They cannot even tell the people how they will serve them after coming to power for the fourth time.
Chairman Bilawal said that he has prioritised the most essential issues faced by the Pakistani people, which are inflation, unemployment and poverty. He said he has himself prepared the 10-point Awami economic charter which will combat the plethora of issues faced by the people. The PPP’s 10 promises to the people need to be conveyed to every doorstep. The right to vote is the power of the people, and this is what the people of Punjab need to be apprised of. The PPP resolves to not only increase wages, but double them within five years. The Party also resolves to provide 300 units of electricity free-of-cost to the deserving citizens of the country. The PPP aims to construct three million houses for the people all over the country, and give ownership to the women of the households. Simultaneously, the PPP government is resolving to regularise temporary houses while giving ownership to the residents so they too can experience the serenity of living in one’s own place. Moreover, the PPP plans to not only expand the revolutionary Benazir Income Support Programme but also provide interest-free loans to the women of the country so that they can gain financial independence and contribute to the economy of the country. Chairman Bilawal said that he wishes to serve the women of the nation as a son. The Party is aiming to provide the ‘Benazir Kissan Card’ and the ‘Benazir Mazdoor Card’, to provide crop insurance and financial assistance to all small farmers, and social security to labourers, instead of giving subsidises worth billions to the elite. For the youth, the PPP aspires to initiate the ‘Youth Card’ so that unemployment can be dealt with. Educational institutions and affiliated campuses will be constructed in districts all over the country so that the students are facilitated. The PPP achieved in Sindh what the other parties could not despite getting three opportunities. The people can access free healthcare treatments ranging from liver and kidney ailments to cardiac issues from institutions all over Sindh. The PPP aims to construct similar institutions all over Punjab. This is not only to facilitate the people, but also those who have not been able to construct a single free healthcare institution despite getting three turns to do so. It was the dream of Quaid-e-Awam Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto that no child or adult goes to sleep on an empty stomach. Hence, the Party plans to introduce the ‘Bhook Mitao Programme’ to combat hunger. This is the crux of the 10-point agenda and on February 8, when the symbol of the arrow is stamped, all these promises will be fulfilled.
Addressing the supporters of the PML-N, Chairman Bilawal said that the PML-N workers who had turned democratic and faced General Musharraf in the ARD, and talked of the sanctity of the vote, saw their own party leave its narrative. This is the same old PML-N of Dictator Zia-ul-Haq and IJI. If the workers of PML-N want democracy and for the sanctity of the vote to prevail, they should stamp the symbol of the arrow as this is the lion that sucks the blood of the farmers, labourers, youth and the downtrodden. Addressing the workers of the PTI, Chairman PPP said that if they wish to stop Nawaz Sharif from becoming the PM for the fourth time, then they could either waste their vote by opting for independent candidates, which amounts to supporting the PML-N, or channel their energy and strategically use their right to vote. They should consider that the contest is between two parties, and to stop the lion in its path, the arrow of the PPP needs to be stamped. Chairman Bilawal said that he will stop the lion in its path, and when given the opportunity on February 8, he will himself book a ticket for them on February 9 to return to their Avenfield apartments in London. It is their misconception that they have already won the elections after appointing an interim government in connivance with Raja Riaz coupled with the absence of the symbol of the bat. They are so confident that they do not even feel the need to campaign. However, if the people of Punjab and the country wake up, and decide to stop them, then nothing can stop them till they achieve their objective. The people should come out in historic numbers on February 8 and stamp the symbol of the arrow. The PPP will establish a democratic, pro-people government. There was not one political prisoner during Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s time. She could have asked her supporters to avenge her father’s killing. When President Zardari came to power, he could have asked the workers to avenge his wife’s killing and the torture he was subjected to, but he raised the slogan of ‘Pakistan Khappay’ instead.
The PPP aims to follow the footsteps of its predecessors, and upon coming to power, Chairman Bilawal said that his first instruction would be to release the political prisoners. The people will unify the country so that we can combat the grave problems faced by the country, including the economic issues as well as the law and order situation with terrorism on the rise once again. The Party will work for the youth, in the same manner that Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto did by sending them to work all over the world and make Pakistan proud. The only option for the people to render all conspiracies against the country redundant is to opt for the arrow of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, farmers, labourers, youth, minorities and the downtrodden masses.